Nursing & health sciences
-
In a finding that reflects international experiences, nurses in Australia have been identified as the occupation at most risk of patient-related violence in the health-care sector. A search of the literature was undertaken to explore this concept, with a focus on the emergency department and triage nurses. ⋯ Nurses are entitled to a safe workplace that is free from violence under both the occupational health and safety legislation and the zero-tolerance policies that have been adopted in many countries including Australia, the UK, Europe, and the USA. Therefore, policy-makers and administrators should recognize this issue as a priority for preventative action.
-
Nursing & health sciences · Jun 2010
Compassion fatigue within nursing practice: a concept analysis.
"Compassion fatigue" was first introduced in relation to the study of burnout among nurses, but it was never defined within this context; it has since been adopted as a synonym for secondary traumatic stress disorder, which is far removed from the original meaning of the term. The aim of the study was to define compassion fatigue within nursing practice. The method that was used in this article was concept analysis. ⋯ The characteristics of each of these categories are specified and a connotative (theoretical) definition, model case, additional cases, empirical indicators, and a denotative (operational) definition are provided. Compassion fatigue progresses from a state of compassion discomfort to compassion stress and, finally, to compassion fatigue, which if not effaced in its early stages of compassion discomfort or compassion stress, can permanently alter the compassionate ability of the nurse. Recommendations for nursing practice, education, and research are discussed.